Flying into Istanbul

The whole day has been exciting - flying over Europe, off on a holiday, just us four. Together for 2 whole weeks. Packed in two backpacks, nothing extra, planning on hopping on and off buses, staying where we please, as it's still early in the season. Easter, open spaces, open fires, Roman ruins, good food - that's what we want.

We're nervous, will we be able to keep our wits and kits together? Will this actually work - a new step up with our boys, as neither of us has been here before, neither of us speak the language, bigger notion of travel with children. Will the money do? It's tight. The tickets are frequent flyer points - using them to get tickets home didn't work, so one day in October, LMM said, how about Turkey? We've talked about it for 10 years, yep. Time to do it now then!

It's night, after some hours flying over golden twinkling cities, must be Bulgaria below..wish I'd bought the MAC lipstick at Heathrow...

And suddenly, in the same space-time as me, is Istanbul below. Unmistakeable mosques along the hillsides, the Bosforus curling along, minarets to the sky. It's huge, warmer, awake at 11pm. It begins.

We're collected by the driver from our hotel, the Alp Guesthouse, right in Sultanahmet. Arranged by email, online in a day, before we left. We're that kind of traveller for a day now, with LMM off night shifts again only this morning, and the late arrival.

We're really here, all this way over on the map, the edge of Europe, the ancient boundary, the start of Asia, from the wrong side. To me, Asia usually starts at Bali, or even Darwin really..

And under the Aya Sofya is out hotel, new fitout, just like the pictures. Back into the travel-saddle as soon as I see the late open shops, and small streets, I go down to buy beer and juice, get given a cucumber - and then LMM, the Pumpkin and I sit on our rooftop terrace, actually, incredibly overlooking the Bosforus, v pleased with ourselves, excited at the beginning! I think the beer always tastes great at this first arrival point, don't it?

Paris meets Paris

Years of lead-up, this! Paris the bear gets to Paris today.

Driving up from overnight in Orleans, droping off the car at Orly airport, then train and Metro to our hotel. Me now with my boys, in Paris again! Wow. Lunch for E10 at a corner bistrot, fab fab, we're here. This, I can do.

And hitting the high notes immediately, we set off for the Eiffel Tower. Long wait in the queue. This will be the one time we do this. I never did when I lived here at 16, or in later visits - always too touristy. But now. The boys are hopping, I'm getting cold, the queue is full of tourists on shorter holidays, we get to feel that we really do live in Europe now. What a stream of life we're in.

Up in the lift, to the very top. EArrgh. Vertigo. I'm almost sick with the height of it, the headtrip of it moving up here, the wind, oh I know it's a safe structure, and it's been here, but suddenly I've got all teh bad thoughts rushing in. The Bean beside himself with excitement, the Pumpkin falls asleep on Leathermanman's shoulder and misses a real lot of it all. We go to the top, gaze into the museum boxes, stare out over this amazing city, roar into the wind. I'm back, I'm back.

On the way down, the Bean and LMM run the stairs (like LMM did when he was a kid here), the Pumpkin and I catch the lift down. Incredible experience, a real highlight. And then we search for toilets, go to a playground. Of course.

And into the 6e, past my old school, photos there!, amazing to BE HERE, shop for postcards. A shred of home it is. Dinner near St Michel in a Greek restaurant, staring at a statue of a nude white bum, over the shoulders of my two boys. LONG walk home, all the way past Notre Dame, the Seine, Place de Vosges, rolling, savouring every step. Just got here, wish I could stay.

(Paris the Bear is Paris because Painterwoman bought the bear for the Bean on the day he was born. Then 2 weeks later, she flew to Paris, to paint. That bear has been wanting to get here for 7 years!)

A well boring day

What a magical combination of engineering and other-worldly skills, with generations passing it on! Saw this sign on a wall, on the way home Cork from a day further out west. Left the boys in the car to snap this one!

A day when Leathermanman worked all day, so I packed the Bean and the Pumpkin and a picnic into the car, in search of Drombeg Stone Circle, Creagh Gardens and a day out. The Drombeg stones are well, small, but the knowledge that centuries ago, some mysterious folk watched the mid-summer sun rise up through a chink on the horizon and cast its rays across the altar stone and through the centre of the 2 lead stones, well, that's not so bad. Boys imagined cooking here, and enjoyed running about in the big space. Creagh Gardens are closed, but we enjoyed our picnic in a lovely garden nearby all the same.